Tongchang-dong Missile and Space Launch Facility

Tongchang-Ni / Pong-Dong-Ni

10 January 2011 Imagery

New satellite imagery of North Korea's Tongchang-Ni Missile and Space Launch Facility reveals a completed launch umbilical tower. Intelligence analysts in the United States and South Korea are keeping a close eye on the facility, near Tongchang-dong. The facility is seen as a major step in North Korea's quest for an intercontinental ballistic missile that could possibly strike the United States

The facility comprises a rocket engine test stand, missile assembly and test buildings, a launch bunker and an observation tower, making it a more advanced facility than its other North Korean counterpart at Musudan-ri.

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The Pongdong-Ni/Tongchang-Ni launch pad as of 10 January 2011.

Credit: Globalsecurity.org, GeoEye

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Evolution overview of the construction of the launch site between September 2002 and January 2011.
Credit: Globalsecurity.org, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye